Rotation

Earth's Rotation
The earth rotates about an imaginary line that passes through the North and
South Poles of the planet. This line is called the axis of rotation. Earth rotates about
this axis once each day (approximately 24 hours).
More specifically, our rotation period (the time elapsed for one rotation) with
respect to the stars is called a sidereal day. A sidereal day is 24 sidereal hours, or 23
hours and 56 minutes on a normal clock. Our clock time is based on the earth's rotation
with respect to the sun from solar noon to solar noon. This is a solar day, and it is
divided into 24 hours. Because Earth travels about 1 / 365 of the way around the sun
during one day, there is a small difference between solar time and sidereal time.
The axis points in pretty much the same direction all the time, though it does
wobble slightly, ranging between 22.1 degrees and 24.5 degrees every 41,000 years.
Perpendicular between two lines is a 2 dimensional property, so, while the axis is never
"straight up" so to speak, there is a 90 degree angle between the axis and the line
between the center of the sun and the center of the earth during the spring and fall
equinox. Those are the only times.
The term Earth rotation refers to the spinning of our planet on its axis. If you
could look down at the Earth's North Pole from space you would notice that the
direction of rotation is counter-clockwise. The Earth’s rotation is responsible for the
daily cycles of day and night. At any one moment in time, one half of the Earth is in
sunlight, while the other half is in darkness. The edge dividing the daylight from night is
called the circle of illumination. The Earth’s rotation also creates the apparent
movement of the Sun across the horizon.
The Earth's axis is not at right angles to this surface, but inclined at an angle of
about 23.5°. Figure shows the view of the Earth in its orbit about the Sun on four
important dates: June solstice, September equinox, December solstice,
and March equinox. The angle of the Earth's axis on these four dates remains
unchanged. In figure we can see how the circle of illumination changes its position on
the Earth’s surface. During the two equinoxes, the circle of illumination cuts through the
North Pole and the South Pole. On the June solstice, the circle of illumination is tangent
to the Arctic Circle (66.5° N) and the region above this latitude receives 24 hours of
daylight. The Arctic Circle is in 24 hours of darkness during the December solstice.
During the two equinoxes, the circle of illumination cuts through the polar axis and all
locations on the Earth experience 12 hours of day and night. Seasons are appropriate
only for the Northern Hemisphere.
The Earth spins 366 times in a normal calendar year of 365 days. It spins 367
times in a leap year (366 days).
You can see that the Earth spins one more time than the number of days in a year. That's
because our 24-hour day is based on the Sun's position in the sky, which depends a bit
on the Earth's orbital motion in addition to the Earth’s rotational period relative to the
fixed stars. In fact, the Earth takes slightly less than 24 hours to spin once.
The Earth actually spins about 366 and one quarter times during each orbit of the Sun
(which takes about 365 and a quarter days). The calendar year is based on the Earth’s
orbital period, but (for our convenience) the calendar year always contains a whole
number of days (365 or 366).
That’s answered the question, but here are some extra details for those who may be
interested (or perhaps confused by some answers).
There are several definitions of a "year", all based on the Earth's orbital period around
the Sun. So, if you want a precise answer, you need to specify which definition of "year"
you are using. Our calendars are based on the tropical year (also called a solar year), see
Notes below.
To get the number of spins in a year using the tropical year, start with the length of the
tropical year, which is about 365.242 days. Divide the tropical year length (in seconds)
by the Earth's rotation period (in seconds). The spin period is about 23 hours 56
minutes and 4 seconds. The answer, as you might expect, is about 366.242 spins.
Notes: The Earth takes about 365.2564 days (of 24 hours) to orbit the Sun, measured
relative to the “fixed” stars. That’s called the sidereal year. The tropical year is defined in
a way that prevents the seasons from slowly moving to different times of the year (due to
the precession of the Earth’s rotational axis). The tropical year is about 20 minutes
shorter than the sidereal year.
PROJECT
IN
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Submitted by: Prince Dazel P. Deloso
Submitted to: Mrs. Renee D. Fajardo

Rotation

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Earth's Rotation

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